Council Caned by Minister over pre-schools

2.01.16pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 14th Jun 2004

Richmond's education policies were caned in parliament when it was singled out as one of two councils (the other being Croydon) that are failing to observe their statutory obligation to provide nursery places for all 3 and 4 year olds. The Minister indicated that action would be taken against the council if it failed to comply.

Vincent Cable, MP, said: "I have corresponded with the Secretary of State for Education about Richmond's anomalous position after local parents were baffled and upset to discover that they could not get a nursery place for their child, which they felt they were legally entitled to".

"The council, as always, pleads that it has a poor financial deal from the government and can't afford it. It is true that the council is not well funded by central government but this is true of quite a few councils and the others meet their statutory obligations. There is also a question of priorities; there is a lot of evidence that early years education is crucial to success later in school. In any event, unless the council does meet its obligations it could find itself penalised".